
Aspen saplings in Douglas County were left permanently bent over after sustaining the burden of the immense weight of ice and cemented snow loads on stems and branches. / Photo Credit: Paul Cigan, Wisconsin DNR
By Paul Cigan, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Hayward;
Paul.Cigan@wisconsin.gov or 715-416-4920
Wisconsin weather is often dealt out in extremes and excess.
This year, winter has gotten off to a mild start, but in mid-December 2022, tens of thousands of acres of forest land in Douglas, Sawyer and Washburn counties was permanently changed by a generational winter storm that became famously known as the “Blue Blizzard of 2022.”

On April 20, the First Downs for Trees program celebrated its 13th year by distributing 403 trees to 16 Brown County communities for planting. First Downs for Trees is a cooperative effort between the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the Green Bay Packers, Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) and corporate sponsors Essity and Green Bay Packaging, Inc.


Did you know that 2022 is both the 150th anniversary of the Arbor Day holiday and the 50th anniversary of the Arbor Day Foundation? To mark these events, the Arbor Day Foundation is compiling all of the Arbor Day celebrations across the United States, putting them on a map, and sharing it far and wide.
The 2022 Annual Statewide Wisconsin DNR/Wisconsin Arborist Association (WAA) Urban Forestry Conference, “Looking Forward, Not Backwards, to Our Days in Arboriculture!” was held in Green Bay on Feb. 20, 2022.